Allan Gray has retained its position as the top manager of South African unit trust funds, while Nedgroup Investments remains the best manager of offshore funds, according to the PlexCrown survey of management companies for the quarter to the end of June.
Allan Gray’s overall rating decreased slightly to 4.304 PlexCrowns from 4.306 in the first quarter of this year, when it attained first place, a position it had not held since the fourth quarter of 2013.
As in the first quarter, Nedgroup Investments was runner-up to Allan Gray in the domestic rankings. Its overall rating also declined slightly, to 3.909 from 3.972 PlexCrowns in March.
In January, Nedgroup Investments won the Raging Bull Awards for the best South African and the best offshore management company of 2015.
Coronation Fund Managers slipped down the rankings in the second quarter this year, moving into fourth place, while Marriott moved up into third.
The PlexCrown survey, which is conducted quarterly, rates actively managed collective investment schemes and scheme managers based on the risk-adjusted returns of their funds. The fund ratings take into account consistency of performance and the risk a fund manager takes when investing, with managers scoring higher for good returns at low risk. Funds are rated from one to five PlexCrowns.
ALLAN GRAY
Allan Gray’s top rating in the survey was characterised by solid investment proficiencies across all the broad asset classes. The company shared third place (with Ashburton, Foord, Metropolitan and Sanlam) in the broad South African equity and real estate category, with 4.000 PlexCrowns, and was ranked third in the broad global and worldwide category, with 4.283 PlexCrowns, according to Ryk de Klerk, a director of PlexCrown Fund Ratings.
Allan Gray had the third-highest ranking in the broad South African multi-asset non-income category with 4.738 PlexCrowns, and it shared fourth place (with Community Growth and Oasis) in the broad South African interest-bearing and income category, with 4.000 PlexCrowns, De Klerk says.
Six of Allan Gray’s eight funds that qualify for PlexCrown ratings achieved above-average ratings of four or five PlexCrowns.
The Allan Gray-Orbis Global Fund of Funds and the Allan Gray Balanced Fund achieved five PlexCrowns. The Global Fund of Funds was the top-rated fund in the global multi-asset high-equity sub-category, while the Balanced Fund was the second-best-rated fund in the South African multi-asset high-equity sub-category.
The following funds achieved four PlexCrowns: the Allan Gray-Orbis Global Equity Feeder Fund (up from three PlexCrowns in the first quarter), and the Allan Gray Equity, Bond and Stable (down from five PlexCrowns) funds.
NEDGROUP INVESTMENTS
The investment house was ranked third in the broad South African interest-bearing and income category with 4.326 PlexCrowns, shared fifth place (with Grindrod and Foord) in the global and worldwide category with 4.000 PlexCrowns, and had the sixth-highest ranking in the broad South African multi-asset non-income category with 4.092 PlexCrowns.
Fourteen of Nedgroup Investments’s 20 funds that qualify for a rating achieved above-average ratings of four or more PlexCrowns.
The following seven funds achieved five PlexCrowns: the Financials Fund (top fund in the South African equity financial sub-category); Private Wealth Equity Fund (top fund in the South African equity and large-cap sub-category); Entrepreneur Fund (top fund in the South African equity mid- and small-cap sub-category); Core Diversified Fund (a South African multi-asset high-equity fund); Flexible Income Fund (second-best fund in the South African multi-asset income sub-category); Core Guarded Fund (South African multi-asset low equity sub-category); and the Opportunity Fund (second-best fund in the South African multi-asset medium-equity sub-category).
The following funds achieved four PlexCrowns: the Global Equity Feeder Fund, Global Flexible Feeder Fund, Global Cautious Feeder Fund (which gained a PlexCrown since the first quarter), Mining and Resource Fund, Core Income Fund (which gained a PlexCrown), Stable Fund (which lost a PlexCrown) and Bravata Worldwide Flexible Fund.
MARRIOTT
Third-placed Marriott’s overall rating improved to 3.743 PlexCrowns, from 3.397 PlexCrowns in the first quarter and up from 3.046 PlexCrowns at the end of 2015.
The investment house had the second-highest rating in both the broad South African equity and real estate category with 4.675 PlexCrowns, and the broad global and worldwide category with 4.304 PlexCrowns.
Six of Marriott’s 12 rated funds had above-average ratings of four or five PlexCrowns.
The following five funds achieved five PlexCrowns: the Global Income Fund (top-rated fund in the global interest-bearing short-term sub-category); International Growth Feeder Fund (first in the global multi-asset flexible sub-category); Dividend Growth Fund (a South African equity general fund); Balanced Fund of Funds (a South African multi-asset high equity fund); and the Worldwide Flexible Fund of Funds (second-best fund in the worldwide multi-asset flexible sub-category).
The First World Equity Feeder Fund achieved four PlexCrowns.
OFFSHORE RANKINGS
Nedgroup Investments again topped the ranking of managers of foreign funds approved by the Financial Services Board for South African investors. ACPI maintained second position, but Marriott fell to fifth place, while Oasis moved into third.
Nedgroup Investments’s rating remained at 5.000 PlexCrowns. The investment house topped the charts in the broad equity and real estate category with 5.000 PlexCrowns, and shared top spot with ACPI and Marriott in the broad offshore asset allocation category with 5.000 PlexCrowns.
All three of Nedgroup Investments’s rated funds achieved ratings of five PlexCrowns: the Global Cautious Fund (top-rated fund in the global asset allocation flexible category); Global Flexible Fund; and the Global Equity Fund (runner-up in the global equity general sub-category).
ACPI maintained its rating of 4.500 PlexCrowns in the second quarter. It was the leading management company in the broad global fixed-interest category with 4.000 PlexCrowns, and shared the top spot in global asset allocation category.
Four of ACPI’s five rated funds had four or five PlexCrowns. Two funds achieved to top rating of five PlexCrowns: the Balanced Ucits Fund and the Rubrics Global Credit Ucits Fund.
PLEXCROWN RANKINGS TO JUNE 30, 2016
Domestic companies
1. Allan Gray 4.301
2. Nedgroup Investments 3.909
3. Marriott 3.743
4. Coronation 3.616
5. Prudential 3.596
6. Investec 3.533
7. PSG 3.254
8. Momentum 3.193
9. Absa 3.128
10. Sanlam Inv. Mng 3.102
11. Discovery 3.049
12. Investment Solutions 3.024
13. Old Mutual 2.913
14. Oasis 2.836
15. Prescient 2.745
16. Stanlib Multi-Manager 2.718
17. Stanlib 2.685
Offshore companies
1. Nedgroup Investments 5.000
2. ACPI 4.500
3. Oasis 4.000
4. Investec 3.875
5. Marriott 3.750
6. PineBridge 3.500
7. Momentum 3.000
7. Orbis 3.000
9. Coronation 2.750
10. Investment Solutions 2.667
11. Sarasin 2.525
12. PSG 2.500
13. Stanlib 2.356
14. Lloyds 2.333
15. Ashburton 2.333
16. M&G 2.250
16. Sanlam 2.250
18. Franklin Templeton 2.094
Source: PlexCrown Fund Ratings